Thought Leadership

• Worries about artificial intelligence (AI) supplanting knowledge workers have created more pain for the office market.

• A broader view on the economic impact of AI should consider possible positive impacts.

• AI could boost worker productivity and economic demand — and thus demand for other types of commercial real estate.

CBRE’s 2023 Global Occupier Sentiment Surveys feature insights from more than 400 corporate real estate executives across multi-national and domestic companies around the world. Their insights on the future of work have identified five trends that will guide global organizations as they optimize their portfolios:

• People are using the office less frequently than they did prior to the pandemic, but attendance is continuing to rise.

• Globally, the office remains a core element of corporate culture.

• Focus on portfolio optimization means more than space downsizing.

• Occupiers trade quantity for better quality space.

• Occupiers seek more flexibility in lease terms and building services.

Survey results portend an increase in office attendance globally in the coming year, especially in markets where employee return has been lagging.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/2023-office-occupier-sentiment-survey-global-summary

Key findings

With new products like ChatGPT, AI’s potential to transform the global economy has captured the world’s imagination

• AI has enormous potential to reshape real estate, with near and long-term impacts ranging from the emergence of new markets and asset types to innovations in investment and revenue models.

• A rapidly expanding AI ecosystem and its supporting infrastructure will drive demand for real estate in different markets across the globe.

• PropTech adoption has laid a solid foundation for AI integration in real estate. Organizations will need to consider how they can harness AI strategically and ethically, piloting applications before scaling to deliver value.

Japan is the third most sought-after investment destination within APAC for Singapore-based investors, only trailing behind the Chinese Mainland and Australia.

Between 2013 and 2023, an estimated USD 16.2 billion has been injected into Japan's commercial real estate (CRE) market. Significantly, 12% of this capital influx occurred in the first half of 2023, highlighting a pronounced surge in investor interest.

How have the Japanese government's monetary policies impacted real estate investors?

The Japanese government's monetary policies to stimulate domestic inflation have proven to be a significant advantage for real estate investors. This is particularly evident as the Japanese yen has recently touched multi-year lows compared to major global currencies. This trend has created a favorable environment for those in the real estate market.

Despite recent adjustments to its yield curve control targets, the yen's depreciation against the Singapore dollar was unmistakably pronounced, hitting an unprecedented low in 2023. The added firepower has put Singapore as the top cross-border investor in Japanese real estate so far this year.